So the Girl got us an Amex credit card not long ago, and it was supposed to reward us after our first 3 purchases with some sort of $50 cashback bonus or some jazz like that. Except 3 months later, and nothing. So we called. Guess what? Apparently if you call them, they “suddenly remember” all of this, and are so willing to rectify the situation. It’s not according to plan that they conveniently forgot, OH NO, it’s just an accident.

Well anyways, they presented The Girl with like 150 options for a $50 gift card. Of all the places they rattled off, Cheesecake Factory was the only one she recognized. Yesterday the card arrived, today we dined fine at Cheesecake Factory.

Except it wasn’t all that fine. And what’s more, geebus did the waitress make it hard on me. See, they didn’t have exactly what I wanted. They had two dishes that were close, or at least part of the puzzle, but damned if the waitress could put them together right. I wanted shrimp scampi with Teriyaki chicken. Not hard, but boy oh boy did she manage to NOT get this right.
Firstly, she tells me it’s not possible, the chicken is pre-cut, can’t do it, blah blah blah, though I still fail to see why the fuck not. Then we find out that she could order it plain but supply a side of teriyaki sauce. Bravo, young lady, yer learnin’! Come din-din time, though, I re-lost my faith in her, as my shrimp was literally swimming in nasty-ass sauce (I dislike sauce. Except BBQ. And Teriyaki.), and the chicken was battered in some form of regurgitated throw-up or something. Luckily she remembered the side of ‘yaki. But she also managed to get the Girl’s order COMPLETELY wrong. Like, the only thing right was that it was supposed to be chicken of some nature, but this is neither horseshoes OR hand grenades, so no points.

OK, we paid some $20 a plate. And the shrimp was awash in toxic waste and the chicken looked like someone else’s throw-up. So basically, if you love $40 cheesecake, by all means go to the Cheesecake Factory and lose the mortgage on pies that are not as good as Marie Callender’s. If you like edible food that tastes good and is at least mildly affordable, go to TGIFridays. Or Marie Callender’s. Or shit, McDonalds. Have you had their $1.00 apple pies? To die for.

Dang, I could have had 100 apple pies from Mickey D’s for what that crappy night out cost me. Well, except for the whole $50 gift Card thing, which I’m pretty sure McDonald’s would not honor.

Bastards.



Second-Favorite Place to Visit
Crate & Barrel. It might just be the ampersand, which I feel is wholly underused in society as a whole. Or it might have more to do with the style of housewares they sell, which to me could best be described as “Modern understatement with Classic Taste.” I like simple, easy-to-use-and-clean equipment that has clean lines without ornate decorations and overstated flare. I like simple, elegant designs. Crate & Barrel sell a lot of that.

They also sell some really odd junk too, but I just skip those aisles.



Favorite Place to Visit
And what would a trip to Victoria Gardens be without a stop by the Apple Store? A trip not worth making, that’s what.

Of course I stopped in… And of course I played with the new Macbook Pro 17” 2.33GHZ Intel Core 2 Duo w/ glossy screen. And of course I want one, like right now. Funny thing was how into them the Girl was. She was all about the cool new features (she’s got an “iBook,” which is basically the “Look, I have a Mac, too!” of the family lineup) and overall speed improvements.
Sigh… however, we both know that new laptops are not in the cards for us for quite some time. We just bought this awesome new vacuum cleaner (you may have heard of it: Dyson?), and still need some other appliances, such as a refrigerator, washer & (ampersand) dryer, as well as cookware and dishware.

Maybe if we meet a strange, rich person that is willing to give us lots of money, provided we don’t spend it on a house or other overly-practical items, we’ll get them. But chances of running into a crazy like that are slim to none; I’m not sure many more of me exist in this world.
Seriously, peeps: Buy my photography, donate to the cause.

Peace.

Tags: Technology, hate, earth conditions